healthcare

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Some Missouri residents could have more choices but also see higher costs when enrollment begins for health insurance plans offered through a federally run website.

Open enrollment starts Saturday for people wanting to purchase insurance for 2015 through HealthCare.gov, which offers subsidized coverage under the federal health care law.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has added a new prong to his proposal to draw down billions of dollars through a Medicaid expansion.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports 4,124 Missouri residents have selected a health insurance plan through the federally run online marketplace healthcare.gov.

The department released the figures Wednesday. HHS said the insurance exchange had more than 31,000 applications from Missouri through Nov. 30. The applications sought coverage for nearly 63,000 people.

Death. It's often a taboo topic of conversation, despite its inevitability.

But that's not the case for everyone. David Oliver, retired medical professor at MU, and his wife, Debbie, gave a presentation yesterday evening (Dec. 3) titled, "Our Exit Strategy: Depriving Death of Its Strangeness."

The Agape Clinic in Belle is closing Tuesday and will leave hundreds of Missourians without healthcare.

Executive director Margie Lange said the clinic is closing because the legal physician she was working with sold his practice to a local hospital.

The hospital’s legal liability carrier decided to discontinue the legal collaborative practice agreement between Agape and the hospital. Lange said most of the patients Agape served are unsure what they will do for healthcare.

Democratic Governor Jay Nixon has released just over half of the 400 million dollars he withheld earlier this year from Missouri’s current state budget.  215-million dollars will be divvied up among K-through-12 schools, higher education, mental health programs and specific programs for training health care professional in southwest Missouri.  Nixon released the money Thursday after Republican lawmakers on Wednesday failed to override his veto of a controversial tax cut bill.

Missouri is facing a shortage of primary care doctors, and the strain could grow as more people soon gain health insurance under the federal health care law.

The state had just under 74 active patient care primary care doctors per 100,000 residents, according to 2010 figures from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That ranked Missouri 35th in the nation and put it behind the national per capita average of more than 79 active primary care doctors per 100,000 residents.

Gov. Jay Nixon's administration says it is expecting more than 1,000 people to rally at the Missouri Capitol in support of Medicaid expansion. The Democratic governor plans to speak at this afternoon's event as part of his effort to expand Medicaid to more lower-income adults as envisioned by the federal health care law.

Republican legislators so far have refused to embrace a Medicaid expansion. And the prospects may be getter dimmer.

  The Missouri Senate unanimously approved legislation Thursday that would require insurance companies to cover medical services provided electronically if they cover the same service when it is delivered in person.

The Missouri Senate has given preliminary approval to a bill that would study the cost of making insurance companies provide coverage for eating disorders.

The Missouri Senate has given initial approval to a bill that would require newborn screenings for congenital heart disease.

Second Life is an online, virtual 3-D world where someone can create an Avatar, or an online representation of themselves.

Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz is an assistant professor of communication in MU’s College of Arts and Science. She surveyed 279 people to find a better understanding of how their experiences with their avatar might affect their life outside of the virtual world.

Employment at Lake Regional Health System in Osage Beach has increased in the last four years. Its current payroll totals more than 70 million dollars with more than eleven hundred employees.

A University of Missouri program that places doctors in rural areas is receiving national recognition.

The program of the medical school's Area Health Education Center was honored with a top award recently by the National Area Health Education Center Organization.

The medical school's Rural Track Pipeline Program guides undergraduates to rural settings for training during medical school and, ultimately, seeks to place them in rural practices.

Folks in the western Missouri city of Nevada are getting the chance to make examples of themselves when it comes to health and wellness.

The town is embarking on an initiative to improve the health of its citizens and the quality of health care they receive.

The Kansas City-based health care technology company Cerner is teaming up with local officials on the initiative. The city's hospital will spend $10 million on an electronic medical records system that will allow information to be shared with the town's two dozen doctors and medical experts in bigger cities.